The Farm and Ms. Carll's Vision

The House, 1979

Imagine knowing you could drive back in time just a few minutes for fresh produce, eggs, honey or a bouquet. Perhaps you drop by as a respite from the daily "rat-race"...wander into the book barn to browse for yourself or with your children... maybe attend an adult ed class on gardening or cooking organically... a wine tasting at sunset with a jazz trio playing... kick up your heels at the annual Fall Finale barn dance...get lost in the corn maze then take a hayride at the Fall Festival before leaving with the family's pumpkins...dance under the stars at the annual gala...go ice skating on the flooded fields in winter, with hot chocolate and a firepit nearby.......

Much of the above and more have been done with other surviving suburban farms around the country. With today's enlightened awareness of farmland preservation, the benefits of a healthy diet enriched with locally sourced organic produce and the human need for "sense of place" in a community, it's a disgrace this gift presently lies in decades-long neglect. It's high time Marion Carll Farm is allowed to become the community jewel it was intended to be over 50 years ago.

The House,November 2012

Front elevation, soffit completely rotted away

Images below-April 2018

Marion Carll willed the farm upon her death in 1968 to the Commack School District #10 with both a life estate for her niece and the following conditions:

" That the premise on which I reside, upon which are erected the Carll residence and numerous farm outbuildings, be perpetuated as an historic site within the Town of Huntington and to this end, I give, and devise said real property herein described and give and bequeath the furniture, furnishings, farm equipment and appurtenances to Union Free School District #10....for the following purposes:

a. To maintain the buildings thereon as historical museums.

b.To utilize the land area as a type of farm school, school or camp for the benefit of the children of Union Free S. D #10.

c. ...and the general public generally if it is so desired, access to said premises...

d. to erect...if so desire, a building to be used as a library....

By 1990 Ms. Jenkins had died. The local BOCES signs a lease with the school district. While the house was in generally good repair, the barns had had little if any maintenance since before Ms. Carll's death. BOCES was awarded a grant from NY State Department of Parks and Historic Preservation to match funds privately raised by several members of the community. Repairs were made to several barns.The State grant came with conditions including that the farm was to be maintained to specifications set forth by the Secretary of the Interior and that the public would have access a minimum of 12 times per year. The School District failed to honor either of these conditions.

Front porch column forcibly knocked out

Mid-rear elevation

West rear elevation with plywood barely covering rotted corner.

Front Porch

East rear elevation with soffit deterioration

Western elevation. Doors to kitchen (L) and Dining room (R).

East elevation, least damaged

In 2000, BOCES didn't renew their lease and the property begins to deteriorate from lack of maintenance other than lawn mowing.....

Of the many attempts to reuse the land since...both encouraging and/or destructive...ultimately none were in the farm's best interest. On and off litigation further hindered progress and afterward the School District failed to publicize requests for appropriate solutions.

The farm is located on the western side of Commack Road, the town line between Huntington and Smithtown townships. It is approximately 1 mile North of the L.I.E and a 1/2 mile North of Northern Parkway...to which the Carll land holdings once extended just South of. It is in Huntington Township.

Other than electricity, 2 bathrooms and oil heat...the farm is an 1860 time capsule of a prosperous family homestead established there by 1701. This is EXCEEDINGLY RARE in this day and age; historically it is priceless. The entire farm is on the National Register of Historic Places, which unfortunately provides little if any protection for registrants. The entire property is under the historic landmark status of the Town of Huntington; which offers some protection, but not solutions.

...WE ARE THAT SOLUTION!